Exhibition: From fleece to wool

The exhibition From Fleece to Wool completes the months-long process of documenting and researching wool. A lot has already been written and known about the material with many good properties, but we mainly dealt with the traditional processes of processing and using this material in Škofja Loka.

The exhibition is part of the Roko-delci project, which takes place within the framework of the LAS of the Loka Mountains. As part of the project activities, together with the Škofja Loka Museum, we are researching handicraft heritage and modern handicraft creation. Last year, we devoted a similar research process to knitting, and the work carried out still resonates.

The motive for documenting wool processing procedures is also aimed at long-term effects. Bojana Ažman, a master craftswoman with whom we have been working for many years, encouraged individuals to learn to spin wool on a spinning wheel through the implementation and management of spinning courses in our Handicraft Center. Bojana is a researcher at heart. She herself prepared the material for the manual, in which she described the work processes of preparing fleece for spinning, dyeing with plants and weaving. She collected the material mainly because of her own experience, her beginnings of learning, when there was almost no domestic literature available. Through our cooperation, she expressed her desire to publish a manual, and through the Roko-delci project, we were able to build on her work. The Škofja Loka museum explored the historical aspect of sheep farming and the use of wool in Škofja Loka, ​​and we filmed a documentary film in the DUO handicraft center. At the Kovk farm in Spodnje Jezersko, together with Eveline and Janez Smrtnik, we filmed a segment about sheep farming, taking care of the quality of the wool, which the Association of Sheep Breeders of the Jezera-Solčava breed strives for, and about sheep shearing. In the film, Bojana Ažman shared with us her knowledge from washing, combing fleece, to spinning on a spinning wheel and dyeing wool with plants.

With the part of the exhibition From fleece to wool, which is presented in our center, we want to show the importance of using the fleece or wool of indigenous sheep breeds, especially the Jezera-Solčava breed of sheep. At the exhibition, we deal with the characteristics of wool as a material, the processes of processing the fleece and the meaning and symbolism of the collective work related to wool in the community. On the other hand, we want to show what wool can be used for. We often overlook the fact that wool is a material that accompanies us throughout our lives, and raising awareness about the use of wool is also important in terms of a circular economy, the use of natural materials and locally available resources.

The project is co-financed by the European Union from the European Agricultural Fund for Rural Development and the Republic of Slovenia within the framework of the Rural Development Program of the Republic of Slovenia 2014 – 2020. The governing body appointed to implement the Program of Rural Development of the Republic of Slovenia for the period 2014 – 2020 is the Ministry of Agriculture, Forestry and Food. Development Agency Sora d. is responsible for the content. o. about and the Museum of Škofja Loka.